Life. Changing.
The road to the future is often paved with significant financial barriers; sometimes, you just need a boost
Being a student is hard. Change is hard. You think about this time of your life, and at first, you’re excited for your independence—“I’m gonna make up my own mind, live in my own place, eat tacos every night (not just on Tuesdays), and game 24/7!”
Then reality sets in.
Those things cost money! Rent. Food. Internet. Utilities. Tuition. Books. Tacos…
Money is hard to come by when you’re just starting out. The cost of living is high, and the weight of student loan debt makes it hard to focus on building a future.
Sometimes, you just need someone to give you a boost.
The CPA Education Foundation knows the road to the future is often paved with significant financial barriers and strives to remove these barriers for disadvantaged youth.
Our donors are like-minded. They want to give back to the profession and help future CPAs by giving them a chance at success.
For example, Peter Kruczko CPA, CA, wants to pay it forward and help someone in the same way he once was helped. Peter has been a designated accountant for 50 years, and he says that wouldn’t have been possible without the help of one person: his mentor, Gordon Woodman FCA.
“He was very kind and very generous with his time,” Peter recalls fondly. “He helped me a lot and gave me the opportunity to become a [designated accountant].
If it wasn’t for Gordon, there’s no way I would have been in this profession, and I wanted to commemorate him somehow.”
That’s why he contacted the CPA Education Foundation nearly a decade ago to create a scholarship in memory of Gordon that provides a deserving post-secondary student with $2,000 they can put towards their tuition or wherever they need it most. And now that he’s in his 50th year as an accountant—and also celebrating his 80th birthday—he’s adding to that legacy.
For the 2023/24 academic year, Peter has gifted the Foundation $10,000 to offer a one-time scholarship: the Peter Kruczko CPA, CA Golden Jubilee Award in Memory of Gordon Woodman FCA.
“I know what it was like when I was a student, and I wanted to be able to help someone in a way that could possibly be life-changing,” Peter says.
He encourages students to consider the CPA profession. “It’s a beautiful profession,” he says. “If you like hard work, honesty, and helping people, this is the right profession for you.”
The deadline for post-secondary students to apply for the one-time $10,000 Peter Kruczko CPA, CA Golden Jubilee Award in Memory of Gordon Woodman FCA—and all other CPA Education Foundation post-secondary, CPA PEP and CFE awards—is January 31. Learn more at the CPA Education Foundation website.